What's your favorite BEER?

[begreen]

As a "kit and kilo" brewer, it takes me less than an hour to start fermenting a batch. Clean up in less than 30 minutes.

That's fast. Most brews we make take twice as long. It takes quite a while to get 2-3 gallons of brew up to boiling temperature, then the wort has to boil for an hour. Then it takes a while to get the wort down to a safe temp to pitch the yeast. Then there is cleanup. That said, it's an enjoyable process and a good family activity and my son is pretty helpful at all stages of the brewing and bottling.

Wine on the other hand is much faster. I can have a batch from a kit in the carboy in about 15-20 minutes. And bottling goes quite quickly too.

 

[Highbeam]

My fermentation bucket has a 5 gallon (max) fill mark. The space above that mark, I want to keep for the krausen. Not interested cleaning up walls and floors after a flow over.

That's a darn good reason to keep fermentation volumes low. I've had to clean up such a krausen mess, some brews are worse than others about it. This means that you will never get 5 gallons of finished product until you upgrade your equipment. I recommend the plastic 6.5 gallon carboy when you do since I broke a glass one in my hands and had to be stitched up in the ER.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Finally i found on of my favorites at a local outlet. Innis a & Gunn original and rum aged ,aged in rum barrels. The original is slightly better than the rum aged IMO ,but both world class brews. Imported from Scotland. $4 a bottle if purchased by single. $2 and change by the case.

 

[timfromohio]

I think that Sam Adams Octoberfest is the tastiest stuff around. Regarding homebrew, the "Innkeeper" kit from Northern Brewer is tied with their "Irish Red" kit for my favorite homemade.

Any other Octoberfest fans out there?

 

[Ashful]

I think that Sam Adams Octoberfest is the tastiest stuff around. Regarding homebrew, the "Innkeeper" kit from Northern Brewer is tied with their "Irish Red" kit for my favorite homemade.

Any other Octoberfest fans out there?

Sam makes a respectable Octoberfest. If you're into that sort of brew, you should try the Spaten Octoberfest, which is even better, IMO.

 

[Jags]

Or the great-great-great grand daddy...Hacker Pschorr.

 

[timfromohio]

Thanks for the recommendations - will look for those, though I'm also cheap and have found that Costco sells 28 beer cases of SA Octobertfest for well under $20, at least they did last year. That was a great deal.

 

[dafattkidd]

Don't talk to Ashful about being cheap and drinking beer. That guy spends more money on beer monthly than my mortgage!

 

[Alpine1]

Or the great-great-great grand daddy...Hacker Pschorr.

Of the six sisters, my favorite (marzen-Oktoberfest) is Löwenbrau. For all the rest, Augustiner beats the other five 10:1

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Don't talk to Ashful about being cheap and drinking beer. That guy spends more money on beer monthly than my mortgage!

Same here, I only have 1 or 2 at a time so i want quality. I do have friends that tend to drink half a case at a time or more so they are more into quantity.

 

[pdf27]

Of the six sisters, my favorite (marzen-Oktoberfest) is Löwenbrau. For all the rest, Augustiner beats the other five 10:1

Shame it's a pig to get in parts of Germany, let alone overseas

The other one I really like is Kölsch, but that's even worse to get in the UK - we just bring it back by the carload whenever we're in Germany. My favourite is Schreckenskammer, but finding that is a bit hit-and-miss in Cologne let alone outside the area...

 

[Alpine1]

Shame it's a pig to get in parts of Germany, let alone overseas

The other one I really like is Kölsch, but that's even worse to get in the UK - we just bring it back by the carload whenever we're in Germany. My favourite is Schreckenskammer, but finding that is a bit hit-and-miss in Cologne let alone outside the area...

Augustiner isn't easy to find here too, but since I'm only 300 kms from Munich I find it in some bars around where I live. Of course, since I begun drinking beer in Edinburgh a long time ago, my favourite is still a good ole pint of heavy 90 shillings... I can drink German beers, but to my taste nothing compares with good British beers! Slainte!

 

[Ashful]

Don't talk to Ashful about being cheap and drinking beer. That guy spends more money on beer monthly than my mortgage!

You're doing well, if your mortgage is under $300/mo.

I will risk irritating a lot of folks, and say there is no beer worth drinking much under $50/case. That's the bottom-line on making a true barley beer, without corn or rice fillers. Sam Adams has done very well at that, being the first American brewery in modern times to mass-produce true barley beers, and while their brews might not be considered anything rare or special, they're all solid quality product.

Most of the beers I enjoy are Belgian brews over $120 per case. Similar beers can be made for $60 - $70 per case in the USA (Victory Golden Monkey, Weyerbacher Merry Monks, Allagash Dubbel/Tripel, etc.), so about half of that cost is associated with importing and small batch sizes.

Then there is my favorite treat, barrel-aged beers. These are typically over $200 per case, but are not my daily drinking stock. Popular barrel-aged brews some of you have probably tried are Allagash Curieux, the special 2014 edition Barrel-Aged Rude Elf (not regular Rude Elf), Hardywood Barrel-Aged Grand Cru, etc. These are sublime, but I always feel like I'm paying 2x more for something that's 20% better, so I only buy them on special occasions.

On the subject of drinking, I asked an old guy who works for me (he's now 77, and still harvesting wood for three families), if he thought a beer a day was maybe unhealthy. His response was, "I'm sure the doctor will tell you that, but then again, I know a lot more old drunks than old doctors."

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Then there is my favorite treat, barrel-aged beers.

One of my favorites is Innis & gunn rum aged. Said to be aged in rum barrels. Would that be considered a barrel aged beer? Previously could only find it as singles for $4 bottle , but recently managed to find a case for $51 .

 

[begreen]

I will risk irritating a lot of folks, and say there is no beer worth drinking much under $50/case. That's the bottom-line on making a true barley beer, without corn or rice fillers.

Have to call this one. There are many American beers that don't use corn or rice fillers. And many that are well below $50/case. True these may not be the high proof ales that you like, but there are lots that make a pure barley beer, especially with the explosion of microbreweries. For me, high alcohol content is not the determinant in what makes a good beer/ale. That said, in the mainstream Samuel Smith, Peak Brewing, Dogfish Head, Pincus, Laguinitas, Black Raven, Elysian, etc. all have good true barley beers, no corn or rice added. And there are hundreds of microbreweries that expand this list.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Most of the dogfish varieties (that i drink ) are more than $50 a case, and im only a few hours north of where its made. But they do make some excellent brews. Troegs Double bock is probably the best beer dollar value at $36 a case ,that i drink.

 

[begreen]

I've read some good things about Troegs. Love a good double bock. Best I ever had was a small batch served at the public market in Budapest.

 

[Ashful]

Have to call this one. There are many American beers that don't use corn or rice fillers. And many that are well below $50/case. True these may not be the high proof ales that you like, but there are lots that make a pure barley beer, especially with the explosion of microbreweries. For me, high alcohol content is not the determinant in what makes a good beer/ale. That said, in the mainstream Samuel Smith, Peak Brewing, Dogfish Head, Pincus, Laguinitas, Black Raven, Elysian, etc. all have good true barley beers, no corn or rice added. And there are hundreds of microbreweries that expand this list.

You're making my point for me. Around here, most of the brews you named are within $5 of the $50 case price I named earlier. But prices may vary, coast to coast.

BTW, Lagunitas makes an interesting one called Hairy Eyeball.

Agreed, high ABV does not necessarily make a good beer, but very few of the beers I enjoy are under 8%.

 

[begreen]

Yes, we are a bit less for local brews here and Costco prices are hard to beat. I think we paid like $32 for a case of Ballast Point last time and Stone IPA was about the same. But yes, there are a lot going for over $50 a case too. Me I have been making homebrews so I venture out less these days.

 

[fbelec]

hi begreen
where do you buy your ingredients? local or mail?

 

[begreen]

Both. I get kits from Northern brewer sometimes (and as gifts) and sometimes I hit the local shops for recipes. I got a killer Irish Red recipe and ingredients locally that I want to reproduce. Some friends grow hops locally too. That's always fun to experiment with. And we have a raspberry wheat ale that is carbonating right now that we used our own raspberries with.

 

[fbelec]

raspberry wheat sounds great

 

[begreen]

raspberry wheat sounds great

It's got promise based on a sampling before it went into the bottles.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I've read some good things about Troegs. Love a good double bock. Best I ever had was a small batch served at the public market in Budapest.

You will probably never find it that far west ,their only market is within 1 state of production unless they expand in the future. If you ever get to go to Hershey park in PA they are right next to the park. have a tasting room ,snack bar and tours.

 

[mellow]

I am not a crazy beer drinker, actually taking this month off, but if you guys trade I am in the area of some decent places.
Dogfish
Burley Oak
RAR
EVO
Rubber Soul

Hit me up on untappd: spinr0k